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Virtual conference carbon footprint revealed
Analysis of the carbon emissions from an academic conference hosted by Cambridge University Press has produced the first detailed estimate of how holding such an event online can dramatically reduce its environmental impact.
Despite being attended by more than 100 speakers and delegates from around the world, researchers estimate the two-day ALPSP Redux 2022 conference for university presses produced approximately 15kg – 20kg of CO2e emissions in electricity use of IT equipment.
That figure is considerably lower than the emissions from flying just one of the participants from the USA to the UK for an in-person conference.
The event’s emissions were estimated using an online tool developed by the University of Bristol and Carnstone, a sustainability management consultancy, as part of DIMPACT, a collaborative project backed by a number of large, global media and technology companies including Cambridge University Press & Assessment.
It was the first time the tool had been used to calculate the emissions from a virtual conference and the findings have been reported in Times Higher Education.
An ideal opportunity
Our Cambridge University Press team hosted the Redux conference in May 2022 on behalf of the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP). On the team putting it together was our digital & open access projects editor, Andri Johnston, who also leads our digital sustainability working group. She said: “The 2020 Redux event was moved online in response to the global pandemic. When we had the opportunity to host the conference again we decided to focus it on sustainability and on equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging in academic publishing. It was a good opportunity for us and DIMPACT to run a pilot to measure the carbon footprint of a live virtual event.
“We knew the emissions would be lower than for an in-person event, but we never expected them to be this low. It really lends weight to hosting more events virtually compared to flying people in for an in-person conference. There are advantages and disadvantages to both virtual and in-person conferences, but from a purely environmental point of view, this is hard evidence that’s difficult to ignore.”
Working it out
To estimate the emissions, researchers gathered data from the event’s video conferencing platform on the average duration and number of users per session. They also asked attendees to complete a survey on which types of device they used, where in the world they were joining from, and how they connected to the internet.
The data was then analysed using DIMPACT’s new video conferencing module, built around the results of device testing by the University of Bristol, alongside existing estimates of the carbon intensity of electricity generation in different countries and of the energy intensity of internet transmissions on fixed line and cellular networks.
Will Pickett from Carnstone, who leads the DIMPACT project, said: “This was an ideal way of testing DIMPACT’s new module. It estimates emissions associated with video conferencing, using what we’ve already learned from looking at digital publishing and video streaming.”
He added: “It turns out that the emissions from this conference were relatively low, and in line with the results we’ve seen from other DIMPACT assessments.
“Being able to get these figures and put them out there so that other conference organisers can see and understand them is hugely important. We would also welcome feedback and engagement on these results from companies providing video conferencing software, to further improve the estimates in the future.”
Using the data
Andri added: “We want the whole publishing industry to think differently about sustainability, and you won’t convince people to do things differently unless you have the data. DIMPACT’s new virtual conferencing module can give people the opportunity to get that data and to be more informed about the true impacts of events like this. Every talk at Redux had practical examples of things people had done or could do around sustainability or equity, diversity and inclusion, and this is an extension of that: real world data that can lead to real world action.”
The approach taken uses standard attributional carbon footprint calculation methodologies, based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocols. The researchers point out that much of the equipment used to access the conference online would likely still have been in use for other purposes had it not taken place. Nevertheless, the estimate of the energy use and emissions allocated to those devices during the event allows a meaningful comparison with the emissions allocated to travel to an in-person conference.
Dr Daniel Schien from the University of Bristol's computer science department, said: “The results from this assessment show very robustly that when using existing digital equipment, the share of carbon emissions from electricity consumption for such an online event are several orders of magnitude smaller than those from travel.”
Catie Sheret, our executive board sponsor for sustainability, said: “We are reducing our environmental impact across our operations, embedding responsible environmental stewardship. We believe our approach to reducing our carbon footprint must be measured and delivered using science-based targets and an internationally recognised environmental management system. Using DIMPACT tools helps us to do that, and are working collaboratively with our partners, suppliers and stakeholders to scale up global progress.”
